Longoria's HR changed to double after replay

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Yankees got a short-lived break Saturday night when Evan Longoria's two-run home run to right in the seventh inning was changed to a double after umpires checked the replay.

Longoria's ball was caught by a fan with a glove who appeared to reach over the rightfield fence. The fan, who was wearing a Rays T-shirt and hat and a Yankees jersey, prevented Nick Swisher from catching the ball -- if Swisher could have, which wasn't clear.

The best guess is that the ball would have hit below the yellow home-run line and off the chain-link fence above the padded part of the wall. That's apparently what the umpires decided.

Still, Swisher immediately pointed up at the fan and Yankees manager Joe Girardi asked for a replay review. After a short delay, crew chief Joe West changed the call from a home run to a double, put Carlos Peña (who had been at first base) at third and took two runs off the board.

But the Rays got the runs right back on Matt Joyce's two-run single off Clay Rapada to give them an 8-2 lead in their eventual 8-6 victory.

"A couple of our guys watched it and said that it was a tough call but thought it wouldn't have been a home run," Girardi said. "They could have called it an out. Joe [West] didn't think he would have caught it."

Said Swisher: "It was tough. I want to say yes, but I'm not quite sure. I think it would have bounced off the top of the cage . . . I was definitely sure somebody reached over."

SEE PHOTOSLong Island in the pros: MLB edition